Toray Advanced Materials Korea has launched a project to build a new carbon fiber material plant, the fourth in Gumi, Gyeongsangbuk-do.
Under the project, Toray Advanced Materials Korea will invest 425 billion won, including 141.6 billion won in foreign direct investments, by 2021. The money will be funneled into expanding facilities capable of producing carbon fiber, composite materials, non-woven fabric, and films.
Among about 500 people on hand at the groundbreaking ceremony that took place at the Gumi High-tech Valley on Oct. 19 were President Park Geun-hye; Akihiro Nikkaku, CEO of Toray Industries; Chairman Lee Young-kwan of Toray Advanced Materials Korea; and other invited guests.
Construction of the 4th plant in Gumi will initially raise the production capacity of carbon fiber to 4,700 tons annually. The exact facility expansion capacity has yet to be determined.
Carbon fiber and composite materials are used as materials of automotive parts for car lightening and eco-friendly automobiles.
Toray Advanced Materials Korea plans to hit the accelerator to advance an era of futuristic cars through collaboration with Korean automotive parts makers. The company also plans to lead in a project to form a convergence carbon mold cluster to raise the competitiveness of such parts industries as automobiles, electronics and aviation industries.
The company plans to ramp up collaboration with industry, academy and research communities to provide support for joint technology development with SMEs in cooperation with the Gyeongbuk Center for Creativity and Economic Innovation.
The dedication of the fourth plant in Gumi will add 19,000 tons of polypropylene (PP), bringing annual production to a combined 62,000 tons. Toray Advanced Materials Korea is the No. 1 PP maker in Asia. PP is in wide use for such areas as sanitation, medical care and industry.
If and when the fourth plant in Gumi is dedicated, it will have an economic effect of creating about 2,400 jobs and substituting for imports worth about 1.1 trillion won, thus reinvigorating the regional economy.
Toray Advanced Materials Korea plans to maintain its leadership in the global market by making the most of the “Korea-China-Malaysia triangle” production center format. The company has an option to expand polyester film, which is forecast to see a surge in demand as electric and electronic materials of display gadgets and EVs.
Toray Advanced Materials Korea Chairman Kim said, “We, not only a company based in the Gumi area for a long period of time, but also the first tenant company of the Gumi Hi-Tech Valley, will be committed to expediting investments.”
Toray Industries CEO Nikkaku said, “We can grow thanks to active support from the Korean central and local governments and contribute to developing the Korean economy and regional society.”
Toray Advanced Materials Korea plans to splurge on about 5 trillion won in investments, including that of the fourth plant in Gumi, by 2030.
The groundbreaking ceremony comes four months after Toray Advanced Materials Korea dedicated the world’s largest polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) production plant at the Saemangeum Industrial Complex in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, on July 6. The plant, equivalent to the size of 30 soccer fields, will act as a springboard to make inroads into the Chinese market.
In his speech, Toray Advanced Materials Chairman Lee said, “We’ll expand its whole business size to make the Gunsan plant a world-class PPS production center.” He unveiled a plan that calls for sales of 5 trillion won and operating profit of 500 billion won by 2020 by strengthening the PPS presence.
PPS is dubbed as a “super engineering plastic” since it can endure temperatures as high as 200 degrees Centigrade and be fabricated with ease. PPS is considered t be a replacement to some metals. It is a high value-added resin, which is lighter than metals, so it is in wide use in such eco-friendly cars as EVs and hydrogen vehicles.
Toray Advanced Materials plans to nurture the PPS plant in Gunsan as a future growth engine. Toray Advanced Materials acquired former Woongjin Chemical, now Toray Chemical, in 2014.
Tokyo-based Toray Industries’ operation in Korea “is now poised to make a quantum leap on the occasion of the dedication of the PPS plant in Gunsan,” the company said.
